Penn State men’s soccer announced its schedule for the upcoming fall season on Tuesday. The full slate includes 17 matches, nine of which will be played on home turf at Jeffrey Field.

𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙨…

The 2021 schedule is here!

: https://t.co/3mg9UXAj0Q#WeAre pic.twitter.com/2hoWsHWTbt

— Penn State Men’s Soccer (@PennStateMSOC) June 29, 2021

Jeff Cook and the Nittany Lions will get the season started with two home games. They will open with George Mason on Thursday, August 26, and then host Syracuse on Sunday, August 29.

Penn State’s first road trip comes on Friday, September 3, against West Virginia. The Mountaineers will be the toughest test thus far in the calendar after they posted a 6-3-1 record this past spring.

Following two successive years in the NCAA Tournament, Penn State has surely set its ambitions high in the non-conference slate by scheduling Pitt, who received the overall No. 1 seed in the national championships last spring. That game will be at Jeffrey Field on Monday, September 13, and should be a must-watch game with high stakes.

Penn State will begin the eight-game Big Ten conference schedule at home against Northwestern on Friday, September 17. The Nittany Lions will also play at home against Michigan (October 10), Indiana (October 17), and Maryland (October 26). Four Big Ten road matches will be at Michigan State (October 1), Rutgers (October 5), Ohio State (October 22), and Wisconsin (October 31).

The other significant non-conference opponent is perennial contender Akron, which will come in the middle of the Big Ten season. Akron boasts current professionals such as Darlington Nagbe, Darren Mattocks, Jonathan Lewis, and Joao Moutinho. The Nittany Lions will head to Ohio to face the MAC champions on Wednesday, October 13.

Following the trip to Madison on Halloween, Penn State will take part in the Big Ten Tournament, which will stretch from November 7 to 14. The Nittany Lions made it all the way to the finals in last April’s championship but fell to Indiana in a penalty shootout.

Here is Penn State’s full 2021 schedule, with conference games marked off using an asterisk:

• Aug 26: vs. George Mason
• Aug 29: vs. Syracuse
• Sep 3: @ West Virginia
• Sep 6: vs. American
• Sep 10: @ UPenn
• Sep 13: vs. Pitt
• Sep 17: vs. Northwestern*
• Sep 21: vs. Villanova
• Sep 25: @ Princeton
• Oct 1: @ Michigan State*
• Oct 5: @ Rutgers*
• Oct 10: vs. Michigan*
• Oct 13: @ Akron
• Oct 17: vs. Indiana*
• Oct 22: @ Ohio State*
• Oct 26: vs. Maryland*
• Oct 31: @ Wisconsin*
• Nov 7-14: Big Ten Tournament
• Nov 17-Dec 12: NCAA Tournament